254 
CORVUS CRISTATUS. 
others have described it; back and upper part of the 
neck, a fine light purple, in which the blue predominates; 
a collar of black, proceeding from the hind head, passes 
with a graceful curve down each side of the neck to 
the upper part of the breast, where it forms a crescent ; 
chin, cheeks, throat, and belly, white, the three former 
slightly tinged with blue ; greater wing-coverts, a rich 
blue ; exterior sides of the primaries, light blue, those 
of the secondaries, a deep purple, except the three 
feathers next the body, which are of a splendid light 
blue; all these, except the primaries, are beautifully 
barred with crescents of black, and tipt with white ; 
the interior sides of the wing feathers are dusky black ; 
tail long and cuneiform, composed of twelve feathers of 
a glossy light blue, marked at half inches with transverse 
curves of black, each feather being tipt with white, 
except the two middle ones, which deepen into a dark 
purple at the extremities. Breast and sides under the 
wings, a dirty white, faintly stained with purple ; inside 
of the mouth, the tongue, bill, legs, and claws, black ; 
iris of the eye, hazel. 
The blue jay is an almost universal inhabitant of 
the woods, frequenting the thickest settlements as well 
as the deepest recesses of the forest, where his squalling 
voice often alarms the deer, to the disappointment and 
mortification of the hunter, — one of whom informed 
me, that he made it a point, in summer, to kill every 
jay he could meet with. In the charming season of 
spring, when every thicket pours forth harmony, the 
part performed by the jay always catches the ear. He 
appears to be among his fellow musicians what the 
trumpeter is in a band, some of his notes having no 
distant resemblance to the tones of that instrument. 
These he has the faculty of changing through a great 
variety of modulations, according to the particular 
humour he happens to be in. When disposed for 
ridicule, there is scarce a bird whose peculiarities of 
song he cannot tune his notes to. When engaged in the 
blandishments of love, they resemble the soft chatter- 
ings of a duck, and, while he nestles among the thick 
